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Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

20 Colleges
$19,183 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$48,536 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 3,560 degrees and certificates were awarded to public administration and social service students who went to a Pennsylvania college or university. This makes it the #13 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Public & Social Service Master's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 20 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for public administration and social service students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Public Administration & Social Service Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found West Chester University of Pennsylvania to be the best value school for public administration and social service students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Pennsylvania. WCUPA is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of West Chester.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at WCUPA are $11,898 per year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at West Chester University of Pennsylvania Report

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#2

Marywood University

Scranton, PA

Out of the 20 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Marywood University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Scranton, Marywood is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Marywood graduate students pay an average of $11,438 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Public Administration & Social Service at Marywood University Report

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list. Ship is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Shippensburg.

Ship graduate students pay an average of $11,970 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

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Out of the 20 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the town of Edinboro, Edinboro is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Edinboro are $12,246 a year.

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Out of the 20 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Millersville University of Pennsylvania landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Millersville, Millersville is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Millersville graduate students pay an average of $11,934 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Public Administration & Social Service at Millersville University of Pennsylvania

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With a ranking of #6, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Kutztown, Kutztown University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Kutztown University are $11,440 per year.

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#7

Alvernia University

Reading, PA

With a ranking of #7, Alvernia University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public administration and social service students working on their master’s degree. Alvernia is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Reading.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Alvernia are $16,130 per year.

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California University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for public administration and social service students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the suburb of California, Cal U is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal U are $12,919 per year.

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#9

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Villanova are $21,199 a year.

Villanova also took the #3 spot in our Best Public & Social Service Master’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania rankings.

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#10

Lincoln University

Lincoln University, PA

Lincoln University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public administration and social service programs. Located in the large suburb of Lincoln University, Lincoln is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lincoln are $11,274 per year.

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Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value Public Administration & Social Service Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New Jersey 2,776
New York 10,504
Maryland 1,766
Delaware 443
District of Columbia 874

Public Administration & Social Service Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Social Work 58,326
Public Administration 16,905
Human Services 13,238
Public Policy 6,430
Community Organization & Advocacy 3,096
Other Public Administration 588

Related Major Annual Graduates
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting 142,610
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies 73,813
Legal Professions 61,055
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 4,477

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 20 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to University of the Fraser Valley.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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